Does free will require a blank slate?

in free •  4 years ago 

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On the issue of free will, which seems to be where I'm in the minority among my fellow libertarians since I'm a determinist, can we at least agree that we're not born with a clean slate?

At the most basic level, even dogs know how to swim instinctually without any training. Even dogs aren't born with a blank slate.

No matter what argument you want to have about the spectrum of free will to determinism, you have to deal with the fact that we're dealing with with the fact that the very brains, bodies, instincts, and minds that we're dealt with are beyond our control. What's more, our environments, nurturing, and influences are largely outside of our control.

Thought experiments can go so far; but, if you really believe in libertarian free will, do you really believe that we were born with a blank slate?

I've heard people who believe in libertarian free will say every crazy thing that you can think of; up to and including that consciousness doesn't exist in the physical brain. So, speaking broadly, I don't think that I can strawman libertarian free will because 99.9% of the arguments for it are absurd.

Much of our decisions are driven by factors over which we have no control, which would insinuate embracing of compatibilism.

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